Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells
Christmas Bells - Blandfordia nobilis

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

3830 Steam locomotive - visit to Robertson

"Locomotive 3830 represents the epitome of steam locomotive development in New South Wales. ...... Locomotive 3830 was the last of the 38 class locomotives to be produced. ...... The 38 class locomotives were designed by the New South Wales Government Railways, under the leadership of Harold Young, last of the railways' Chief Mechanical Engineers of the steam era......
It was built at the Eveleigh Railway Workshops and went into service on 27 September, 1949......... Restoration of the locomotive began in August 1992 and was jointly undertaken by the (Powerhouse) Museum and 3801 Limited, operators of steam locomotive 3801.
Source: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=85075

It almost seems the train's steam engine created the fog. It did not. The fog is natural.

It got darker and darker, within minutes, just as the 3830 was getting ready to depart.
See yesterday's images.
I cannot but think this guy wanted to be a Train Driver. In fact, he may have been one,
as many of the enthusiasts are former train workers.
The way he was staring at the train through the fence, as it powered up, was very poignant.Here is goes - straight past me - through the fog - at the road crossing on Meryla Street,
adjacent to the Robertson Heritage Railway Station.They were cheating! At the end of the train, there was a damned messy
(and decidedly unromantic) diesel engine, pushing from behind.
Because of the thick fog, I had not seen the diesel engine until it went past me.

1 comment:

Mosura said...

Thanks for sharing the pics. I'm much more inclined toward the natural world than the mechanical but I reckon steam engines are pretty close to living, breathing machines.

That diesel, though I agree it's much less romantic, is a bit of history in itself. The 49 class was introduced in 1960 so almost 50 years old. They'd have been among the first diesels that replaced the steam locos.